The Whitehall Ledger - Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Todd Breitenfeldt gave an excellent and informative lecture to the Whitehall Garden Club about the biological control (bugs/insects) of weeds. Todd told the Garden Club that noxious weeds are the cause of environmental damage and without biological controls the result is the devastation of noxious weeds taking over, as we have seen with leafy spurge and knapweed. Todd with the use of a power point presentation showed examples of the European model where host specific insects for a noxious weed can completely control its influence. Insects are introduced that are host specific and over a few years can take care of the noxious weed infestation. Bio-control does take time and as you can imagine, pesticides, etc. cannot be used during this period. Patience is called for, and having Todd come to your property will help you decide which insects are necessary to permanently alleviate the noxious weed. The Garden Club thanks Todd for sharing his vast knowledge of this subject. FYI, if giving the chance, be sure to make it a point to hear Todd speak.